In years past it was not too common to see kids with cell phones. Times have certainly changed though. Nowadays when kids sit on Santa’s lap they don’t ask for Barbie dolls and G.I. Joe’s, they want an iPhone. An increasing number (more than half) of our younger generation have cell phones before they even get to high school.

Who can blame them for wanting one? They can text with their friends and play Angry Birds all the want. It can be a good idea for parents as well. It can allow you to communicate with your child in the event of an emergency. It’s a digital umbilical cord of sorts. And with many households eliminating their landlines it makes sense to let every member of the household have a cell phone. But there are perils to kids having cell phones. Here are a few things that parents should look out for before they decide on getting their son or daughter a smartphone.

Monthly fees

Fortunately adding a new line to your plan is only going to cost you about 10 bucks a month. But remember, this is a phone line for a child. It really means $120 per year – every year. Add to that the cost of the phone itself and you’ve got quite the costly present.

Overage fees

Kids have no clue about the value of a dollar. Their eyes would gloss over if you even discussed overage fees with them. Overage fees can be real costly. That is why the parent should closely monitors their child’s cell phone usage. Keep track of their minutes used, their text message usage and their data  usage.

Parental controls

When you hand over a smartphone to your child you are giving them a powerful tool that can be used for good purposes as well as bad ones. With great power, comes great responsibility. Many children are too young to be responsible with their phones. Among the bad things kids can do with their phones include prank calls, sexting and visiting websites they’re not supposed to be on.